Bangladesh cricket chiefs said on Wednesday that 13 players who opted to compete in the unauthorised Indian Twenty20 league will be banned for 10 years.

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) unveiled late Tuesday its new Dhaka Warriors team in New Delhi, which comprises 11 Bangladesh internationals reportedly earning 200,000 dollars each over a three-year period.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) held an emergency meeting Wednesday and decided to ban the players for joining the unapproved league for 10 years, BCB spokesman Rabeed Imam said.

"We don't have full reports of who have joined the ICL. But today, the board has decided that whoever has joined the unapproved league would be automatically banned for 10 years," he said.

The board was also considering legal action against the 13 for breaching International Cricket Council rules, he added.

At least seven of the 13 players informed the BCB they were retiring from Bangladesh cricket, citing personal reasons.

The 13 players announced for the Dhaka Warriors include former captain Habibul Bashar and senior team-mates Shahriar Nafis, Dhiman Ghosh, Mohammad Rafique and Alok Kapali.

Players aligned with the ICL -- bankrolled by India's largest listed media company Zee Telefilms -- are banned from playing official domestic and international cricket.

The meeting was held a day after the board announced it would not accept the players' retirements.

Earlier Wednesday, Bangladesh's Australia-born coach Jamie Siddons, who joined the cricket minnows a year ago, denied the sport was in crisis.

"We can't afford to lose that many players on a regular basis. We'll replace these guys with young players but my biggest concern is that the ICL will come knocking again next year," Siddons told AFP via telephone from Australia.

Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful told the leading Bengali language newspaper 'Prothom Alo', in an interview published Tuesday that he was offered a 700,000-dollar contract to play in the ICL, which he declined.

Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq Friday lashed out at Pakistan for making a U-turn on selecting cricketers from an unrecognised Indian league and succumbing to "pressure."
Pakistan selectors Monday named three rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) players -- Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul Hasan and Imran Nazir -- in a preliminary 30-man squad for the T20 WC in England in June.

Pakistan's banned fast bowler Rana Naved has asked the PCB for a central contract before he snaps ties with the rebel Indian Cricket League.
Naved said he was keen to play for the countries but wanted some kind of an assurance from the PCB once he left the ICL.

Even after snapping ties with the Indian Cricket League, 'rebel' players would have to cool their heels for about 6-12 months before they can return to international cricket, according to a PCB official.
Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Saleem Altaf said the International Cricket Council was considering a 'cooling period' for players who part ways with unrecognised tournaments like ICL before they can return to international cricket action.

Pakistan will not field rebel cricketers until it receives clarification on the status of their contracts in India and a decision by the sport's governing body, an official said Tuesday.
National selectors had included three players from the unrecognised Indian Cricket League (ICL) in the preliminary 30-man squad for the T20 WC championships, subject to clearance from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the International Cricket Council.

Pakistan's Abdul Razzaq has gone ahead and made a claim that the Indian Cricket League (ICL) has terminated the contracts of all Pakistani players and would issue 'No Objection Certificates' (NOCs) this week to enable them to play elsewhere, including for the national team.
"In the next two or three days we will have the NOCs in our hands and will be able to submit it to the Pakistan Cricket Board," Razzaq said.